1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a dual-view display device that can display more than one image simultaneously on a screen in accordance with a viewing angle, and a method of driving such dual-view display device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Flat display devices have attracted great attentions from many users. Currently, flat display devices include a liquid crystal display (LCD) that uses liquid crystal, a plasma display panel (PDP) that uses a discharge of inert gas, and an organic electroluminescence display (OLED) that uses an organic light-emitting diode. Among the flat display devices discussed above, the PDP is generally used for large-sized television, while the LCD is used for devices having various sizes, such as, a mobile phone, a portable computer, a monitor, a television, and other suitable devices.
The LCD uses optical and electric characteristics of liquid crystal molecules to display images. The liquid crystal has an anisotropic property such that a refractive index and a dielectric constant of the liquid crystal molecule along a major axis is different from the ones along a minor axis. This anisotropic property is used to control the arrangement and in turn the optical properties of the liquid crystal molecules. In other words, the LCD controls the light transmittance by varying the alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules. The alignment direction of liquid crystal molecules are changed by an electric field.
An LCD device displays images through an LCD panel. The LCD panel is provided with a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix-type configuration. Each pixel of the LCD panel is comprised of red, green, and blue sub-pixels. These sub-pixels control the light transmittance by varying the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules in accordance with a data signal, thereby representing desired colors. Each sub-pixel drives the liquid crystal molecules by charging a pixel electrode with a data signal supplied through a thin film transistor. In addition, a common voltage (i.e., differential voltage) is supplied to a common electrode to drive the liquid crystal molecules. Further, the LCD device requires a backlight unit to provide light to a rear surface of the LCD panel since the LCD panel is a non-light-emitting device.
Currently, a dual-view LCD device is being developed. The dual-view LCD device is adapted to provide a single-view mode and a dual-view mode. The dual-view mode displays two images on a display device based on one image data obtained from a left viewing angle and another image data obtained from a right viewing angle. The dual-view mode is achieved without causing the interference between the two images. The single-view mode displays a single image on the display device, where the single image is obtained from entire-viewing angles. The desired LCD display mode may be selected. Furthermore, method of selecting between the single-view mode and the dual-view mode may also be applied to the various other flat panel display devices, such as the OLED, Electric Field emission display FED, PDP, and other suitable display devices.